News of the Day From Across the Nation, July 15

Chronicle News Services

Published 4:42 pm, Thursday, July 14, 2016

1No peace talks: Afghanistan has no plans to revive a peace process aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table after a four-nation effort earlier this year produced no results, Afghan officials said Thursday. The remarks reflect the Kabul administration’s disappointment over what it has described as halfhearted efforts by neighboring Pakistan to jump-start the peace process and could also signal a widening divide between the two neighbors.

2 Drone strike: The Taliban commander responsible for the 2014 attack on a Pakistani school in which more than 130 children died has been killed in an air strike in Afghanistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said. The commander, Omar Mansoor, also known as Umar Naray, was killed Saturday in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

3Vietnam protest: Vietnam on Thursday protested China’s recent activities in the disputed South China Sea, saying they seriously violate Vietnamese sovereignty. Chinese state media reported that two Chinese civilian aircraft on Wednesday landed successfully on two newly built airstrips on Mischief and Subi reefs. China also said it had completed four lighthouses on disputed reefs and was launching a fifth.

4Domestic workers: Kuwait said Thursday that it set a minimum monthly wage for maids, the first time the oil-rich emirate has set such a rule for its foreign workforce of 660,000 domestic helpers. The Interior Ministry listed the minimum salary as $198 a month. That comes after Kuwait’s parliament approved a law in 2015 giving domestic workers rights such as a weekly day off, 30 days of annual paid leave and a 12-hour working day with rest. While some domestic workers find success, others can face abuse or find themselves working in conditions far different than those promised by recruiters, trapped without their passports.

5Bulls festival ends: Nine people suffered bruises and cuts but no one was gored in the final running of the bulls at Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, Spanish officials said Thursday. The nine-day fiesta became world famous with Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises” and attracts thousands of foreign tourists. Twelve people, including four Americans, were gored in the eight runs this year. In all, 15 people have died from gorings at the festival since record-keeping began in 1924.

6 Oldest papyrus: The Egyptian Museum in Cairo has put on display the country’s oldest papyruses, which date back 4,500 years, detailing the daily life of the pyramid-builders. The items are from the Fourth Dynasty of King Khufu, or Cheops as he was also known, for whom the Great Pyramid of Giza was built as a tomb. Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anany said Thursday that the papyruses were discovered in 2013 in the port of Wadi el-Jarf. The port is located 74 miles from the city of Suez.

7Babenco dies: The Argentine-born Brazilian director nominated for an Oscar for his 1985 film “Kiss of the Spider Woman” has died. Hector Babenco was 70. Denise Winther of Babenco’s HB Films said Thursday that the director died Wednesday night of a heart attack at Sao Paulo’s Sirio-Libanes Hospital. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was nominated for best picture and William Hurt won the best actor Oscar. Babenco also directed “Ironweed” with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, who were nominated for best actor and actress Oscars.